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    THE BLACKEST CROW (2004)
    The Blackest Crow is a treasury of traditional American and Celtic folk songs, as well as original pieces. Enjoy their resplendent vocals and thoughtful presentation, played on guitar, mountain dulcimer, old-time banjo, tin whistle, mandolin, fiddle, piano, harmonica, bones, bodhran, wooden spoons, and feet.

    In their ongoing quest as gatekeepers of traditional folk music and dance, Aubrey and Elwood treat their life's work as a rescue mission: finding old songs, writing new songs, and as always, giving voice to the quiet. The songs were collected during many years of performing throughout Appalachia, as well as other places in the United States where traditional folk music still melds with daily life.

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    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Boat You Row Atwater-Donnelly 2022, The World Is Old Tonight, Each Other's Story 2011, The Weaver's Bonny 2009, The Halfway Ground 2007, When Winter Calls 2005, The Blackest Crow 2004, And Then I'm Going Home 2001, and 6 more. , and , .

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about

Sweet Fern
A.P. Carter found this song on his collecting trips into the east Tennessee hills. More commonly known as Sweet Birds, it was written and copyrighted in 1876 by Thomas Westendorf and George Persley.
Ralph Peer, the Carter Family's discoverer and mentor, encouraged Sara to try her hand at yodeling, something Jimmy Rodgers, the other most successful act on the label at the time, was already doing.

lyrics

Springtime is coming, sweet lonesome bird
Your echo in the woodland I hear
Down in the meadow so lonesome you are singing
While the moonlight is shining so clear
I know he's away in a far distant land
A land that is over the sea
Go fly to him singing your sweet little song;
And tell him to come back to me

Chorus:
Sweet Fern! Sweet Fern!
Oh tell me is my darling still true
Sweet Fern! Sweet Fern!
I'll be just as happy as you.

Yo-de-lay, yo-de-lay-he
Yo-de-lay, yo-de-lay-he-he
Yo-de-lay, yo-de-lay-he

Oh tell me sweet Fern, is he thinking of me
And the promise he made long ago
He said he'd return, from over the sea
Oh why do the years roll so slow
I know he's away in a far distant land
A land that is over the sea
Go fly to him singing your sweet little song
And tell him to come back to me

Instrumental

Yo-de-lay, yo-de-lay-he
Yo-de-lay, yo-de-lay-he-he
Yo-de-lay, yo-de-lay-he

Upon my finger he placed a small ring
On the day he was leaving his home
I promised I'd be his own dear little girl
And I'd love him wherever he roamed
But I know he's away in a far distant land
A land that is over the sea
Go fly to him singing your sweet little song
And tell him to come back to me!...Chorus

Yo-de-lay, yo-de-lay-he
Yo-de-lay, yo-de-lay-he-he
Yo-de-lay, yo-de-lay-he

credits

from The Blackest Crow 2004, released May 9, 2004
Aubrey Atwater: vocals, mandolin
Elwood Donnelly: vocals, guitar

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Atwater-Donnelly Warren, Rhode Island

Aubrey Atwater and Elwood Donnelly, present delightful programs of traditional American and Celtic folk songs, a capella pieces, old-time gospel songs, dance tunes, and original works, blending gorgeous harmonies with guitar, Appalachian mountain dulcimer, mandolin, tin whistle, harmonica, banjo, bones, spoons, limberjacks, and Appalachian clog dancing and French Canadian footwork. ... more

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